Re: Gtk scrollbar: thumb too short

[Robert J. Chassell]

      The scrollbar models a physical system where there is a
      knob slid along a trough. If in the physical system 
      (a stereo component say), the knob popped out of the trough
      on the physical system, it would be a sign of shoddy 
      workmanship. I think the same holds for the onscreen case.

Ah ... This is the fundamental misconception.  Yes, in a physical
system, you would complain if the knob `popped out of the trough' or
slid under the end of it.

But displays in a computer are not restricted to strictly physical
contstraints.  In particular, in GNU Emacs, the scroll bar should show

    ... how the document is divided into three parts: the part above
    the screen, the part on the screen, and the part below the screen.

It is both false and misleading to pretend that a thumb in an Emacs
scroll bar is like a knob on a 1948 Zenith radio.  The `thumb' is
derived from the physical knob, but it is not the same; it is an
improvement, just as GNU Emacs itself is an improvement over the
mechanical typewriter on which I first learned to type.

-- 
    Robert J. Chassell                         Rattlesnake Enterprises
    http://www.rattlesnake.com                  GnuPG Key ID: 004B4AC8
    http://www.teak.cc                             address@hidden